Why I Quit My Job Carrying Out Trump's Immigration Policies

Description:

A former asylum officer says "remain in Mexico" and other policies undermining asylum aren't just racist, they're illegal.

In the Video Op-Ed above, a former asylum officer reveals why he resigned: to protest President Trump's policy requiring migrants to remain in Mexico while awaiting hearings.

Doug Stephens had been an asylum officer for two years. But two days and five interviews that resulted in sending asylum seekers back to danger shook him. He drafted a memo detailing his legal objections to the policy, and circulated it to 80 of his colleagues, his supervisors and a member of Congress. And then he quit.

Mr. Stephens is not the only asylum officer who has grappled with following orders. In interviews with a half-dozen current and former asylum officers across the country, The Times learned of individuals leaving their posts, requesting job transfers and falling into deep depression.

The right to asylum has been a cornerstone of international immigration law since the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The United States, along with 144 other nations, made a commitment to protect those who arrive at our borders with "a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion."

To date, Mr. Trump's remain in Mexico policy, officially known as one of the "Migrant Protection Protocols," has left nearly 58,000 asylum seekers stranded in Mexico.

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I started up the asylum office in September 2017and I was an asylum officer for two years.I was asked to do work that I believeto be illegal and immoral.Ultimately I had to voice my dissentand quit.And the asylum program is a scam.I didn’t think of myself as a whistle-blowerbut I guess, I guess I am.Most victims of gang violence and domestic abusewill not qualify for asylum.Before I sat down and really figured outthat it was illegal, I was able to sort of disassociate.It’s just another bad thing that was happeningby this administration but it didn’t directly affect me.Trump has proposed charging a fee to processthe legal asylum applications.Our country is full.Can’t take it anymore. I’m sorry, can’thappen, so turn around.That’s the way it is.The government is sending them back to Mexico.It’s an expansion of the controversialRemain in Mexico policy.The administration is clearly trying to destroy the asylumprogram.The standard for asylum was essentiallya 1 in 10 chance of being persecuted in your home country.But with Remain in Mexico, the entire natureof the work changed.The level of proof that we are requiring of people to showthat they would be harmed in Mexicois much, much, much, much higher.A migrant has to show that it’smore likely than not, through a phone line that’sdisconnecting, actively denying them access to a lawyer,not giving them any time to rest, not giving themany chance to gather or produce evidence.Everybody fails.I knew by leavingI was just another individual thatwas protesting and leaving and makingthe office that much weaker.So I have guilt I think for that and Ihave guilt for not pushing the issue furtherwhile I was still an asylum officer.I heard stories from other asylum officerswhere they interviewed people who were literallyraped by the police in Mexico and thenthe supervisors were saying, “That’s not enough.”That you haven’t shown maybe that you can’t move somewhereelse in Mexico.So even though you’ve clearly been harmed in Mexicoby the government in Mexico, we’regoing to say you can still safely live in Mexico.I was both very sad and angry at the same timebecause what is the purpose of this?It was like this little window into how badthings happen in the world.This is how you get a group of good peoplethat are in a position to try and do good and slowlypivot them to do bad.This isn’t a partisan issue.It is in Congress’s power to stopthese illegal activities.I mean, this is a question of whowe are as Americans, right?This is a question of whether we continuewe continue to shut our door on people in needand to reject individuals that we say we’re going to accepton the Statue of Liberty, or if weembrace the ideal of America that we allwant to believe in.We’re just rejecting it, we’re destroying that idealand we’re becoming the opposite.